


IronQrow Week 2021

by CherryPopz



Series: Months/Weeks/Challenges [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, Awkward Tension, Blacksmith James Ironwood, Clingy Qrow Branwen, Couch Cuddles, Huntsman Qrow Branwen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, IronQrow Week 2021 (RWBY), James is Tired, Jewish Character, Jewish James Ironwood, M/M, Mentioned Clover Ebi - Freeform, Mentioned Raven Branwen, Mentioned Ruby Rose (RWBY), Mentioned Salem (RWBY) - Freeform, Mentioned Taiyang Xiao Long - Freeform, Mentioned Taiyang Xiao Long/Raven Branwen, Mentioned Yang Xiao Long, Mentions of Sex, No Dialogue, No Smut, Original Character(s), Qrow is Reckless, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:21:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28470789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CherryPopz/pseuds/CherryPopz
Summary: My drabbles made for IronQrow Week 2021!
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Qrow Branwen/James Ironwood
Series: Months/Weeks/Challenges [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2100870
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	1. New Additions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Qrow gets up in the middle of the night to comfort his husband and his new daughter.

"Are you still scared?" Qrow asked his husband, watching him rock their newborn slowly in the chair. It was nearly two in the morning, and Qrow had woken because of the absence of James's presence in their bed. Daya had probably started crying and James had gotten up to comfort her.

"I'm terrified, Qrow." James replied in a hushed whisper. His mostly metal body was trembling, his arms cradling his small daughter. "I've never held a baby before her. I'm not sure what to do, what if I'm not a good father to her?"

Qrow sighed and left the doorway he was leaning on to hug his husband from behind, wrapping his arms under James', helping him cradle their daughter. "We've only had her for a couple days, its normal to be nervous. You're going to be a wonderful dad, James."

James nodded slowly as Qrow kissed his cheek, "I just don't want to mess things up. You practically helped Xiao Long raise your nieces, but I've never had experience with little kids."

"And yet, Daya is fast asleep in your arms." Qrow pointed out, suppressing a yawn. "I may have helped Tai out, but this is my first time being a dad, too. We're in this together, right?"

James closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Exhaling, he let go of all his worries and concerns he had about raising their young daughter. For now at least. He was tired, and he needed to get some sleep before he started to worry about her again.

"I'm going back to sleep," Qrow yawned again, stretching his arms after untangling himself from James and Daya. "Are you going to come with me?"

"I'll be back before you're asleep," James replied, "I just want to hold her a bit longer."

James watched Qrow leave the nursery from over his shoulder before he looked back at their daughter. She was only two weeks old now, but James felt like she had been in his life for a lifetime. She had a thick head of black hair and blue eyes, and her tiny fox tail was partially wrapped around James's arm. Qrow and James had picked her up from the Mantle orphanage a week ago, and James couldn't believe how much he already loved her. He couldn't believe how he already knew that he loved her so much that no person she chose as a partner would be good enough for her.

He smiled down at her, watching her tiny chest rise and fall with every breath she took. He would love and protect her with all he was. No matter how afraid he was, he knew that she was worth it. James had never excepted just how perfect having a child would be. James hadn't been sure when his husband told him that he wanted children, but now James knew that having a child was the most incredible thing in the world. Nothing that James had experienced in his life had come close to matching the feeling of holding his daughter in his arms.

Daya yawned in her sleep and James felt a tear roll down his cheek.


	2. Bad Luck Charm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Qrow freaks out after his semblance ruins a moment of passion between him and his boyfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Use of harsh language, such as the F-word!

James chased after Qrow into the kitchen of his apartment, buttoning up his pants as he followed him, "Qrow, really, its alright!"

"No, gods, I'm sorry, James!" Qrow was cursing at himself, pulling on his shirt that he had discarded a few minutes ago. "You know I can't control it."

"Qrow, it's okay. Really, the bed was old anyway, I can just replace it." James scratched his neck, trying to make a joke of Qrow's semblance breaking the bed beneath them.

"I always ruin everything!" Qrow shouted, slamming his body against the couch in a huff, his face buried in his hands. "I wish I had never unlocked the stupid thing."

James sat next to him, and slowly put his arm around the upset man. "I know it may seem like a burden, but your semblance is a part of you, an extension of your soul. I'm sure it helps you as much as it makes you angry."

Qrow scoffed with an irritated smile, "Yeah, whatever. Sometimes I feel like the world just wants to fuck me over. My sister ran away from her family, but she can open portals too them whenever she feels like it. I want to be there for my family, and all I do is burden them."

James sighed, not sure of what to do. Qrow had been plagued with a semblance that seemed to ruin every small moment they have had since their relationship started. James didn't want to tell Qrow, but he did get annoyed by the constant little inconveniences that happened whenever they tried to have a nice, romantic moment together. Or just now, when they tried to be intimate with one another.

James slowly pulled Qrow into a side-hug, resting his head on Qrow's."I love you, bad luck and all." James said the only thing he could think of that might make this situation less awkward. Not less awkward, but sweeter. He desperately wanted to fix all of Qrow's problems, but he couldn't. It was impossible to try and do something like that, but if James could at least make him smile, it would make everything in this moment better.

Qrow leaned into James's protective arms, letting himself let go of his anger at himself. "I'm sorry I ruined the mood." Qrow mumbled, "Every time my semblance acts up, I just get pissed off."

"It's alright, Qrow. I don't want you to hide your feelings from me. I promised you that I would stop trying to force my feelings down, so don't hold out on me."

"Sure, whatever you like, James." Qrow chuckled with an eye roll. "Do you want to start where we left off?" Qrow added with a seductive wink, his fingers rubbing between James’s collar bone.

"Are you in a better head space?" James asked, pulling away from Qrow enough that he could look him in the eyes. "Because I don't want you freaking out like that again."

"I'm better now," Qrow replied, "Maybe not better, but I'm alright. Enough that I know that I still like you and I was enjoying our time together."


	3. Stormy Weather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James and Qrow enjoy a rainy morning the night after their wedding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mentions of sex, no sexual content.

Qrow smiled at the warmth in his hands from the cup of hot chocolate that James had made him as he and his husband watched the rain fall from the security of their hotel suite. Quite a way to kick of their marriage, the day after their wedding and they were stuck inside the hotel instead of off enjoying Mistral sight-seeing, which wasn't much, but still.

Still, it could be worse, Qrow was enjoying the rainfall outside with his new husband, who had made them both hot cocoa to enjoy. If only James knew how to balance the water with the chocolate mix. Still, it was very sweet of him, so Qrow was happy to chock down a bit every now and then.

The two were seated on the hotel's couch in their room, they had turned it towards the window with the curtains opened so they could watch the rain. It was quiet moments like this that make James's heart feel full of love. He often doubted his relationship with Qrow, wondering why such an amazing man would bother spending time with him, but when Qrow sat in silence with him, cuddling with him on the couch, James knew that Qrow really did love him.

James was more of an addict coffee drinker, and he knew that his hot chocolate hadn't come out the way he wanted, but he loved that Qrow was trying to drink it anyways. James had given up on his, letting it cool off on the coffee table behind the moved couch.

Qrow was concentrating on two raindrops that had hit the window. He was watching them fall, silently betting on the raindrop to the right to fall faster, racing them in his head.

He suppressed a yawn as well as he could, not wanting James to think that their quiet time was boring him. It was pretty early in the morning, and Qrow was fighting off sleep, but he wanted to make his husband as happy as he could, which Qrow had said in his vows just yesterday.

James adjusted his body slightly, turning himself to have Qrow's back rest against his chest. He had noticed Qrow fighting to keep his eyes open, and decided that Qrow deserved some rest. Especially because they were up nearly all night. He took the half-finished mug of hot chocolate from Qrow's hands, letting Qrow know silently that if he wanted to sleep, he could.

Qrow yawned again, this time not repressing it, and scooted closer to James, leaning down on the couch, letting his long legs stretch out on the floor and he pulled his arms in close to his chest, cradling himself into a nap like he had always done, ever since he was a child.

James smiled at Qrow's child-like way of getting comfortable enough to sleep. Using his right hand, he slowly ran his metallic fingers through Qrow's jet black hair, absently playing with and silently styling it. When Qrow woke up, he would style it back to the way he usually had it, but for now, James massaged his head, slowly helping Qrow drift off into sleep.


	4. Historical AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Qrow Branwen sits through an awkward first dinner with his new husband after their wedding day.

Qrow Branwen sat down across from his new husband, scowling slightly as they sat in silence, eating their dinner in silence.

James Ironwood was a nobleman blacksmith high up in their monarch society, he was taller than Qrow by a significant degree, nearly five inches, and he was also slightly older. Qrow was 25, and James seemed to be in his 30s. He had black hair and blue eyes, and he wore an awkward smile, contrasting Qrow's glare.

"So," James cleared his throat, speaking for the first time since their vows early that day, "I never got the chance to say it, but stepping in for your sister was a very generous move."

Qrow's twin sister, Raven, had been betrothed to James at the beginning of the week, but Qrow offered to take her place as James's husband, seeing as Raven had fallen in love with the village baker, Taiyang Xiao Long. The Branwen's family was simple hunters in the village, so when it came to the switch, no one raised any amount of objections.

"Yeah?" Qrow sneered, "Well I'm sure that you'll have many chances to say what you never got too."

James sighed, took a swig of his wine, and looked Qrow in the eyes, "I didn't want this either. If it was up to me, you nor your sister would have been put in this situation in the first place, but its not up to me. We can spend our marriage in hatred, or we can try to get along."

"No offense," Qrow rolled his eyes, "but I don't ever see myself falling in love."

"We don't have to love each other, but I feel it would benefit the both of us if we at least tried to be friends." James rubbed his temples in frustration. "Listen, you can hate me all you want, if that's how you want to spend the rest of your life, but we're stuck with each other now."

They finished their meal in silence, James finishing his steak as fast as he could and cleared the table. Qrow tapped his fingers on the table after the food had been cleared, thinking over what James had said.

It was true, in a village like this, in a kingdom like this, there was no hope of Qrow ever divorcing his new husband, and adultery was definitely out of the question if Qrow liked his head on his shoulders, which he did. Even if Qrow didn't learn to fall in love with James, he still should still make an effort to enjoy his life. He didn't have to hunt anymore, he'd have all the food he ever wanted. He would only need to go out with his husband to serious events. All in all, Qrow had secured himself a comfortable, if a bit boring, life.

Qrow walked into their bedroom and watched as James collected a pillow from the huge bed. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"I'm going to sleep in my office tonight," James replied, "I'll go out and buy another bed tomorrow so I can move into the guest room."

"Or," Qrow suggested softly, "You could spend the night?"

James's face flushed red in the moonlight, "What?"

"We should try to get along, right?" Qrow shrugged, "Besides, this'll be my first night without sleeping next to someone from my family. I'm not sure my brain will be able to handle all that room to myself."


	5. Home for the Holidays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James Ironwood runs home after spotting a certain black crow flying through the weather of Mantle and Atlas.

James stormed into his house, slamming the door behind him a bit harder than he meant, but he didn't really care at the moment. "Qrow! What were you thinking?" He shouted.

Qrow turned to face his husband, he was huddled over by their fireplace with a large blanket wrapped around him. "To be fair, I didn't think you'd see me."

James let out a small growl as he rubbed his forehead, "Qrow, I'm so, so happy that you're able to join me for the holidays, but you put yourself in danger. How could you think flying from Argus to Atlas was a good idea? You know how bad the weather here gets!"

Qrow shivered, "It wasn't that bad, I'm fine."

"No, you're not! Look at you! You're practically frozen solid!" James yelled back, hugging Qrow tightly in his arms. "Look at you, you're so cold."

Qrow snuggled into James's warmth, letting his body heat warm him as much as he could. "I'm sorry, James." Qrow sighed, " I really am, but you sounded so upset when I told you that I couldn't find a transport back to Atlas."

"I also said we could light the Menorah over video-chat." James retorted, his voice breaking near the end of his sentence. "Qrow, I don't want you dying because I was a little upset that we wouldn't we spending our first Hanukkah together as a marriage couple. You understand that you could've frozen to death out there, right?"

Qrow nodded, letting James cry into his shoulder. "I promise, I won't do it again. Will you forgive me?"

James cried in silence for a moment, letting his fear of losing his husband dissolve into the back of his mind. "Qrow, we're Huntsmen. I already live with the fear that I will lose you in the field at any moment in time. I don't want the fear of you freezing to death in the Atlas permafrost because of me haunting me for the rest of my life. Please, understand that."

Qrow nodded again, letting James breathe. "Yeah, I get it."

James inhaled deeply, breathing out slowly. "I'll forgive you, as long as you don't do it again."

"Done."

"And you don't transform for a while."

"Done."

"And you let me make you some hot cocoa."

"Done, can we stop all this now? You're kind of crushing me into your metal parts." Qrow chuckled slightly.

"In a moment," James replied, loosening his grip slightly, but not letting go, "I just want to hold you for a little while longer. You're still cold."

Qrow shivered, but rolled his eyes and patted James on the back.


	6. Desperate Measures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Canon Divergence from the end of Volume 7 and Volume 8, where Qrow and James spot an opening to call for help, but have doubts of how great the chances are.

"Qrow, no! You can't do this!" James yelled, grabbing Qrow by the ripped up cape around his shoulders, pulling him back from the open window.

"James, this might be our only chance at getting outside help." Qrow responded, pulling his cape from James's fingers. "If anyone can sneak past Salem, its me."

"How do you even know your sister will help?" James tried to reason, "I thought she denounced Huntsmen and defeating Salem?"

"I have to try, James." Qrow sighed, turning to face his old friend. "Raven's semblance can open portals, if I tell her what's going on, she might grab Tai, who can get the huntsmen left in Vale. James, please, I have to try."

James ran his metallic hand through his hair, causing the professional, slicked-backed hair, to break formation. He was tired, and knew that Atlas would fall soon. They did need help, but James couldn't bare the thought of someone dying trying to fix his mistake. "Qrow, even if your sister will help us, there's no way you'll survive the Atlas permafrost. You'll die before you make it out of Mantle."

"It's worth the risk." Qrow replied softly. His eyes were wide, shining in fear and worry for what was to come. Of course he was afraid. He could get capture by Salem's forces, he could get shot out of the air, he could freeze to death in the snow. He knew the risks of going out there, but if he could reach Raven, if he could get into contact with someone who could help drive Salem off, then it was worth it. "Clover died because of me, James. I own it to him to try and save Remanent. To save Atlas."

"Clover Ebi was a wonderful huntsman, but he wasn't stupid. He wouldn't want you to risk your life on a suicide mission!" James argued back.

Qrow stomped back over to where James was standing. He expected Qrow to attack him, but he instead pulled James down into a kiss. James froze in shock, looking down at the distorted image of Qrow's face against his. Qrow's lips were chapped and warm. It was hard to believe they came from a man poisoned against the world.

Qrow pulled away before James had the opportunity to kiss him back. "James, I am a Huntsman. It is my job to defeat Remnant against Salem's forces and the Grimm. To protect the innocent people of Remnant from her and her beasts. I have a shot to fix things, no matter how slim the chances of them succeeding are. I have to do this."

James blinked away his confusion from the kiss, focusing his semblance back onto the matter at hand. "Qrow..."

"Don't try to stop me, please." Qrow shock his head, turning to jump out the window again, but was stopped. James reached his hand out and grabbed Qrow around the wrist.

"At least, let me guide you."

"What?" Qrow looked back at him.

"It's harder for you to see attacks when you're a bird, right? If you wear an earpiece, I might be able to direct you out of Atlas." James sighed.


	7. Free Day!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bored Qrow annoys his boyfriend, who is trying to read.

James sighed as Qrow propped himself down onto James's lap, batting his short eyelashes at James from underneath his book.

"Yes, Qrow?" James asked, moving the book down so that Qrow's upside-down face was hidden from James's eyesight.

"James," Qrow whined, "I'm bored. Do you want to do something with me?"

"I am doing something," James responded, turning the page in his book, "Why don't you go bother someone else?" He suggested. "Aren't your nieces outside?"

"I already kicked their butts at Amity Arena, I have nothing else to do." Qrow whined again, playfully tracing his fingers over James's, watching his knuckles whiten as he held tightly on the the book. James was getting irritated, which Qrow thought was cute. Also, it might make him pay attention to Qrow.

"I meant, why don't you go outside and spar with them?" James said, closing his eyes as Qrow tried to slowly work his fingers off of the book and making James hold his hand, or link their fingers.

"Nah," Qrow huffed, lifting James's pointer finger off of the book and letting it fall back into position, "They said they had to work on team stuff."

"I though Schnee and Belladonna were off on their honeymoon?" James asked, puzzled and finally peering back down at his boyfriend.

"They are!" Qrow exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air in frustration. "I just think they want some time away from their uncle." Qrow sighed.

"You are clingy," James smirked, slightly.

"So will you do something with me?" Qrow asked, hopefully.

James rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to his book. "Maybe when I finish this chapter."


End file.
